Almost every growing sector in the bottom half of our economy—health care, child care, retail, building services, construction, and hospitality—is plagued by penurious employers who drag down working conditions for everyone…

Common schemes emerge in jobs with sweatshop conditions: employers hide behind subcontractors, call their workers “independent contractors” not covered by workplace laws, and hire immigrant workers who are subjected to substandard conditions. Firms must adopt similar practices to stay competitive. Workers in many of these jobs make the minimum wage or less. Minimum wage for a full-time worker today translates into an annual income of only $12,168. Consequently, many important jobs cannot bring people out of poverty and workers across the socio-economic spectrum are impacted.